You ever had anyone tell you that Ring Around the Rosies is about the Plague? I have several times. The rhyme varies from region to region, and some of the variations, such as “a tissue, a tissue,” make it really sound like it’s about the Plague. According to Snopes, though, the idea that this rhyme is about the Plague didn’t show up until 1961. I knew this before I bought this book, but I neglected to read the back cover. If I had, I would have seen that rhyme and a note saying it’s about the Black Death. That should have been my warning.
I picked this book up in Hawaii on an English book shopping spree. I was looking for a history book, and I thought a book about the plague, something I knew little about, would be good.
Though some of the stories in the book are interesting, overall I can’t recommend it. I don’t care for the writing style; some of the sentences go on forever and there’s too much passive voice. While there are several stories about specific individuals, there’s also a lot of generalization. I almost stopped reading after the first 100 pages, but it actually picked up and got more interesting from there. So, if you feel you have to read this book, know that it improves the more you read.